Force of Habit Does in Kings

The Kings didn’t lose Saturday because the NHL hasn’t availed itself of technology that could have proved whether an apparent second-period goal by Glen Murray was a goal.

They didn’t lose, 2-0, at the Pepsi Center because the Colorado Avalanche played like the NHL’s top regular-season team. The Avalanche played well in spurts, but it gave the Kings enough openings to drive a video replay machine through.

Nor did the Kings lose because Patrick Roy played like the Roy of legend. He made 20 saves but was never severely tested, even though his 16th shutout made him the NHL’s career playoff shutout king.

The Kings lost and went home with their second-round playoff series tied at one game apiece because they lapsed into their old habits of taking too many penalties and leaving one or two lines to do the work of four. The Avalanche was ripe to be beaten and the Kings knew it but couldn’t deliver the telling blow.

“We’re happy we got one win here,” Murray said after the Kings’ playoff winning streak ended at a club-record five, “but we’re not satisfied.”

They shouldn’t be.

“We beat ourselves,” King Coach Andy Murray said. “The Avs didn’t beat us. We’re capable of playing better. . . . I’m disappointed it’s not 2-0. You win the first game, you should win them both. You’re happy with a split only if you lose the first game.”

After winning the series opener Thursday against a shaky Roy, the Kings should have peppered him Saturday and attacked the mistake-prone Colorado defense. But after a strong first period the Kings took four penalties in the middle period, forcing them into a defensive mode.

And although they might have been demoralized when video goal judges Don Adam and Bill Boyce said replays didn’t conclusively show if Murray’s short-handed effort before the 2-minute mark of the second period had crossed the plane of the goal line before it was batted away by Ray Bourque’s lacrosse swing, the Kings had time to regroup. Instead, as play continued, the Avalanche surged ahead at 2:29 when Ville Nieminen jammed his own rebound past Felix Potvin.

After Nieminen’s goal, referees Don Koharski and Paul Devorski requested a review of Murray’s shot, which glanced off Roy’s shoulder and popped into the air before being cleared by Bourque. Had replays conclusively shown the puck had crossed the goal line, Colorado’s goal would have been washed out and the Kings would have had a 1-0 lead. However, no conclusive angle was found, obliging the referees to say it was not a goal and allow Nieminen’s goal to stand.

“From the side, it looked kind of like it was in, but I’m not sure,” Glen Murray said. “The guys in the [locker] room said the replay was inconclusive. The way I saw it, it looked like it was behind him and was in line with the mesh.”

Roy said the puck would have gone in if Bourque hadn’t been alert. “It was on the line,” he said.

Said Bourque: “I never played lacrosse, but I played baseball. It was a nice changeup, or a hanging curveball, maybe.”

The Kings regained some life in the third, but Joe Sakic put the game beyond their reach by converting a breakaway at 15:13, after Luc Robitaille fell in Colorado’s zone and Aaron Miller took a tumble at the Kings’ blue line. Andy Murray pulled Potvin with 2:17 to go and sent backup Stephane Fiset into the game for a faceoff with 1:20 left in an effort to buy his players a few seconds’ rest, but Roy held on and skated off to the roars of 18,007 pompon-waving fans.

“Sometimes, when you put pressure on yourself, it’s like having each of your legs weigh 100 pounds,” Roy said. “The important thing was I had to relax. I took a deep breath and relaxed.”

This is the time for the Kings to work harder, with the series shifting to Staples Center for Game 3 Monday and Game 4 Wednesday. (The Avalanche is 3-10-2 in L.A. since moving to Colorado). The Kings know they must return to Denver for a fifth game Friday, and they know they must elevate their game.

“We didn’t have enough discipline,” Bryan Smolinski said. “The same guys took the same penalties. We can’t have that happen because they have a great power play. You can maybe get away with two or three penalties, but not four or five.

“But it’s 1-1 going into our building and we have a lot of positives.”

Said defenseman Philippe Boucher: “We haven’t put our best game out there yet. Everything has to come together. We can’t take as many penalties as we did and we’ve got to get better chances on the power play. We did all the little things right in [winning] the last four against Detroit and we have to do that again. We have to make sure we leave it all on the ice.”

For expanded coverage of the King-Avalanche series, including photo galleries and live updates, please visit the Times’ Web site: https://www.latimes.com/nhlplayoffs

GAME 3 MONDAY

COLORADO at KINGS

6:30 p.m., ESPN

NO VIDEO CLASSIC

The Avalanche evens series but doesn’t much look like the league’s top team, Elliott Teaford writes. D10

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